Daytona Supercross

Daytona was really cool! This was my first time visiting Daytona and the speedway is amazing! Instead of setting up the pits like normal, each team used the NASCAR garages! This made it really easy for the fans to walk around and see all of the different teams and it brought even more attention to our HD Supply Husqvarna pit! We were in the very first garage, right next to the main entrance where all the fans walked in! This brought a lot of eyes to our bike and setup and gave me a lot of opportunities to meet with the fans! Every time I stood next to our banners to take a picture or sign an autograph, more people would stop by and see what was going on! It was really cool for me and I made sure to do my best to interact with as many people as I could, answering their questions and taking photos with whoever wanted one! I also got to meet a lot of people from South America! Some were just visiting for the race and others had moved to the United States permanently. I enjoyed speaking with them and sharing my experiences of racing in South America! I was there last year for a race in Argentina and in 2013 I raced in Chile.

This was my fourth time racing Supercross in the 450 class on my 250. The reason I haven't been riding a 450 is because I simply didn't plan ahead! I wasn't planning on doing any 450 East Coast rounds until the Tuesday before Dallas. In Outdoors last year I proved that I ride the 450 better, but since I had spent the entire preseason training and testing Supercross on a 250, it made more sense to stick with the program and ride the 250 in the 450 class for a few rounds. I know I'm at a disadvantage,(mostly for the start) but I gained a lot of experience that will help me when I race against the 250s again at Seattle and Salt Lake.

The track was awesome and it got me excited for the Pro Motocross series to kick off! It was soft and it developed some good size bumps in a few sections which gave the track an Outdoor attitude! Since this was my first time racing Daytona I didn't know what to expect. I talked to a lot of experienced people and they recommended sticking with my normal Sx suspension. Even though the track gets soft and rutted, it is still good to have stiff suspension for the big jumps and whoops. My Race Tech suspension worked great! I felt comfortable all day and we didn't even make one change to it!

Practice started off well! I led the 450B guys around the track in the first practice and in the first qualifying session. It's obviously not any great accomplishment to be the first guy around the track in practice because it's not a race, but it's still fun! You get the perks of seeing the track clearly and not getting roosted! It also helps the confidence to go out in front of everyone and get the extra testosterone boost of being in first. It helps me add some intensity to my riding and my riding coach Nathan Ramsey always encourages me to be the first guy on the track and lay down some good laps early!

The night show started out awesome! I was able to watch my younger brother kill it in the first 250 Heat race! Daytona was his second Supercross ever and he got the holeshot in the Heat and led the first lap! He got passed by Zach Osborne quickly and Jeremy Martin got him later which gave him 3rd in the Heat and 5th gate pick for the main! It was so cool to watch from the side of the track as I was preparing for my 450 Heat. I'm so proud of him and it pumps me up to see him in the big leagues showing what he is capable of! I was all excited on the side of the track, fist pumping after he got the holeshot! I was way more excited than he was after the race! I got to talk to him as he came off and he wished me luck and told me about the track.

My heat started off with a good start! I swept around the outside and had a good position, but unfortunately Jason Anderson had a big crash right in front of me and it forced me to go off the track and around the tough blocks. I got back on right away, but I was close to last. At that point it was all about making passes and getting the best gate pick I could for the LCQ. I made some good passes and I was stoked on my riding! I made it to 14th which gave me 9th gate pick for the LCQ.

I thought long and hard about where I wanted to start on the gate in the LCQ. When riding a 250 against 450s it's tough to get a good start. Tyler Bowers had a gate open next to him and I chose it. The rut in front of the gate wasn't great, but I knew he was going to get a good start and I could tuck in behind him around the first turn. My plan worked out awesome!! I held the throttle on as long as I could and then I cut the corner as tight as I could. I dove underneath the guys and pinned it down the left side of the rolling whoops section! I had the inside coming into turn 2(using NASCAR terminology) and I held down the 5th position! I was pumped!! I knew it was possible to make the main with a good start and I got one! Unfortunately I proceeded to throw it away in the second corner... The corner was made out of super soft sand and the ruts were so easy to blow out. Some people who saw it thought that I came into the corner too aggressive and others think that I wasn't aggressive enough! I was bummed to miss the main but I have some positives to be proud of from the day.

Overall Daytona was another valuable learning experience! I had fun on the track and was able to interact with a lot of new fans! Daytona also concluded my 450 East Coast Supercross tour! I'm sad to miss the St. Louis and Indianapolis rounds! It's also weird not to be racing on the Saturday! I raced 10 weeks in a row! I did three rounds of Arenacross to get my SX license, 3 rounds of 250 west Supercross and 4 rounds of 450 Supercross all in a row! But it has been good for my mechanic and I to be back in California. Averi has been working nonstop framing bikes and getting the motorhome ready for the rest of the season. I'm using this time at home to continue with training and making plans for the summer. I'm back riding my 450 for the first time since last September and it has been fun! After getting some motos in on the outdoor tracks I'll be back on the supercross to prepare for the 250 west series to start again for me in Seattle April 7th.

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